Proximo Plans $20M Investment; Seeks City Help

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - A Lawrenceburg business is looking for help from the city for a planned expansion.

A Proximo Distillers representative approached Lawrenceburg City Council Monday evening to ask for a seven year tax abatement to help with a planned expansion. The company does bottling and packaging at its warehouse at 220 Shipping Street for products made at MGP Ingredients’ Lawrenceburg Distillery.

Director Gary Fisher said Proximo is looking to invest $20 million – mostly on new equipment and retrofitting old equipment on its bottling lines – to keep business it has gained in the past year. The company has already committed $5 million. An abatement for seven years would save Proximo about $860,000, according to Fisher.

“It’s six bottling lines going from fillers, packers, labelers, cappers. It’s an entirely new bottling line worth about $7.5 million by itself. All together, we’re looking at spending $20 million and probably putting in 50 pieces of equipment,” Fisher told council.

The project will add 70 new full-time jobs. Fifty of those new jobs are already in place with 42 of them from Indiana.

“We’ll be able to instead of running three shifts, move into a two shift operation,” Fisher said, adding the new equipment won’t mean people will be laid off, but shifted to other lines.

City Council seemed receptive to the tax abatement idea, but voted 5-0 to table a decision as the possibility is investigated further. There were questions whether the abatement would be for five years or seven.

Fisher welcomed council members to come to the Proximo’s facility and learn more about the coming upgrades.